


The First Face I Saw

by liamthebastard



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, but i intended for it to be, like honestly this is gen, really really faint ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-26
Updated: 2014-04-26
Packaged: 2018-01-20 20:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1524479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liamthebastard/pseuds/liamthebastard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where Howard didn't die, Tony is working as a scientist when they uncover Captain America. He's the first thing Steve sees when he thaws.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Face I Saw

“Holy shit,” Tony exclaimed, studying the readings. “This guy’s still alive!” And he was, the signs were faint, but there were definite signs of brain activity and respiration, which shouldn’t be even remotely possible at this point, not just because he was literally _encased in ice_ but because, from what Tony could tell, he’d been encased in ice for _seventy years_. Assuming this was Captain America, of course, but who else would be in a World War II plane under an ice cap –hmm Ice Cap, nice– in that ridiculous uniform?

Coulson looked on, trying too hard to look calm. Tony knew how excited he was, he’d been practically salivating when Tony told him where he was heading, and it hadn’t taken much to get Fury to let him come along. 

The bio signs started to pick up, approaching a normal level. “Shit, he’s waking up, get a med kit,” Tony instructed, pointing some of the scientists towards a counter where they kept all the medical supplies. He moved forward, running scanners across the Captain’s forehead, trying to get a better read on the brainwaves to see how much time they had. So far, they’d only gotten his right arm, head, and torso from the ice; his legs and left arm, shield attached, were still frozen to the table. Brain waves kept spiking, and the Captain’s arm flew up, grabbing Tony’s hand at the wrist. 

Tony glanced down, to where the Captain’s eyes were wide and wild. “I’d tell you to chill, but I feel like that’d be in bad taste,” Tony said, then turned his head to the team. “Med kit? Anyone? And figure out a way to get the rest of this ice gone, I’m not doing this with hairdryers people, chop chop.” The team scattered, one of the medical doctors coming to stand by Tony and start an examination.

“Howard?” Tony started at his father’s name, but recovered quickly. 

“Nah, he’s in New York, working on a project. Didn’t have time to do anything fun, so he sent the prodigal son instead. Name’s Tony,” Tony replied, smirking. “Mind if I get my hand back? I can get you out if I have both of them.” The rest of his team was working on the Captain’s legs, so Tony set to work on his left arm, using what is, well, yeah kind of a hairdryer, but way more powerful so they manage to thaw him out pretty quickly. The soldier didn’t say anything more, just studied his face while he thawed the dude out. 

Tony’s phone was set on a table to the side, so he instructed JARVIS to send a message to Howard, puttering around in his assisted living lab in the Mansion. Ninety something and the jackass was still trying to figure out how to make flying cars commercially viable. 

The Captain seemed a little startled when JARVIS answered Tony’s request, but still he didn’t speak. The moment his legs were free he swung them over the side and sat up. 

“Whoa there flag boy, take it slow, you’ve been frozen for seventy years, you gotta take it slow,” Tony said, pushing at the Captain’s shoulder. He didn’t even move. Damn. 

“Seventy years…” the Captain said quietly. 

Shit, was Tony not supposed to say how long it’d been? Who the fuck knows, it wasn’t like it mattered, two seconds later, the doctor shoved a needle into the Captain’s arm, sedating him. The Captain was unconscious in minutes. “We may have to sedate him more often than usual, we’ve never tested this with his physiology, we just ran simulations,” the doctor said. All the scientists were buzzing around the room, freaking out about the implications of someone surviving that long under frozen tundra. 

Frankly, Tony just wanted to go home. At least Howard had lived to see his friend come out of the water. Maybe now he’d settle down a bit. 

Yeah. Right.

~0~

When Steve woke up, the radio was on. Everything seemed fuzzy, he’d had the oddest dream, about the future, and a man who looked like Howard but wasn’t Howard. But that couldn’t be right, everything in the room pointed to hospital back home. He took a minute to listen to the radio, and the reality set in. The game the radio was playing– he’d been at this game. 

This wasn’t 1942.

~0~

“Sir, it appears the Captain has awoken. He's broken out of the room. Director Fury wishes me to suggest you go speak to him.”

Tony groaned. He wasn’t getting anywhere with his work, but it was still a pain in the ass to have to go chase after a dinosaur. 

“Fine, fine, I’ll take the suit,” Tony agreed. He’d been staying in New York instead of Malibu, at the Tower, just so he could keep an eye on the Captain’s recovery. He’d been in and out of consciousness for about a week now, but if he was breaking out of rooms, he must be feeling better. 

He touched down in Times Square –God, the Captain couldn’t have picked a worse place if he’d _tried_ – and flipped up the faceplate, smirking when the Captain froze. 

“At ease soldier,” Tony chuckled at how Steve immediately shifted position, getting a bit more relaxed though certainly not lowering his guard. “Sorry about that little show back there, but Fury thought it best to break it to you slowly,” Tony apologized. JARVIS was muttering in his ear, summing up the chaos the good captain had caused with his jailbreak. 

“Break what?” the Captain asked, and oh, out of uniform he just looked like a lost kid, trying desperately to be an adult. Tony brushed the thought aside. Time to break the truth.

“You’ve been asleep, Cap. For almost seventy years.” The Captain seemed to deflate, curving in on his own chest. “You gonna be okay?”

The Captain sighed, looking around sadly. “Yeah… Yeah, just… I had a date.”

A little part of Tony shattered at that. Aunt Peggy had passed on about fifteen years ago, but up until the day she died every Saturday night at eight o’clock she’d still go to the Stork Club. She’d only stay for one song, and have the band play something slow, even though she never danced. When the club had been in danger of shutting down in the fifties, Howard had bought it, just to keep that bit of Rogers alive. There was even a little shrine there to the Captain. It’d been huge in the years following the war, but now had shrunk to simply a framed photograph and plaque. Tony hadn’t been in years. 

“C’mon, Captain Rogers. If you spend too long out here your brain will rot,” Tony said, looking around at the advertisements and billboards. He didn’t think much of it, but to a man from the forties, this had to be overwhelming. 

“Steve,” the Captain said. 

Tony turned. “What?” 

“Call me Steve,” he said. Tony nodded. 

“Tony, Tony Stark,” Tony replied. 

Captain Rog– _Steve_ smiled a bit. “I remember.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know man I've been on such a Stony kick lately this just happened. It's not as shippy as I thought it was gonna be, so I've got it as gen, but I may expand it in the future.
> 
> Also, side-announcement unrelated to this fic: I promise I will be updating my various series, graduation is approaching quickly so I haven't been able to dedicate the thought process to plots and characters like they deserve.


End file.
